Shloka 7
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय २५: संजयदूतवाक्यम्
Sañjaya’s Envoy-Speech on Peace
नाश्रेयानीश्वरो विग्रहाणां नाश्रेयान् वै गीतशब्दं शृणोति । नाश्रेयान् वै सेवते माल्यगन्धान् न चाप्यश्रेयाननुलेपनानि
sañjaya uvāca | nāśreyān īśvaro vigrahāṇāṃ nāśreyān vai gītaśabdaṃ śṛṇoti | nāśreyān vai sevate mālyagandhān na cāpy aśreyān anulepanāni |
Sañjaya dijo: «Quien carece de mérito no llega a ser verdadero señor en los conflictos; ni oye el sonido de los cantos que celebran su fama. Sin virtud acumulada, no se gozan guirnaldas ni perfumes, ni siquiera el uso de ungüentos. Así, la prosperidad y el honor se muestran como frutos de la rectitud pasada; mientras que el ansia de goce—cuando no la gobierna la sabiduría—se vuelve tormento interior.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links honor, mastery, and refined enjoyments to accumulated merit (puṇya/śreyas), implying that ethical conduct and past righteousness underpin worldly prosperity; without such merit, pleasures and acclaim do not truly accrue.
Sañjaya is characterizing the conditions for royal success and enjoyment, using a series of negations to stress that lack of merit leads to lack of victory, praise, and luxuries—framing the broader political crisis in terms of moral causality.